Clustered Star Formation and the Origin of Stellar Masses
Abstract
Star clusters are ubiquitous in galaxies of all types and at all stages of their evolution. We also observe them to be forming in a wide variety of environments, ranging from nearby giant molecular clouds to the supergiant molecular clouds found in starburst and merging galaxies. The typical star in our galaxy and probably in others formed as a member of a star cluster, so star formation is an intrinsically clustered and not an isolated phenomenon. The greatest challenge regarding clustered star formation is to understand why stars have a mass spectrum that appears to be universal. This review examines the observations and models that have been proposed to explain these fundamental issues in stellar formation.
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The author enjoyed stimulating conversations with P. André, L. Hillenbrand, N. Scoville, and H. Zinnecker. He also thanks an anonymous referee for detailed and very useful comments on the manuscript that helped to improve it. Supported by a research grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.
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Volume 295 | Issue 5552
4 January 2002
4 January 2002
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